The stone that is used in the hone is what gives you your final RMS finish. A 280 grit is the minimum I would use with moly rings. Nowadays, the name of the game is to simulate an already broken in bore finish with the hone. That requires leaving a minimum of .003 of stock to be honed out. A "plateau" finish is used to help remove the microscopic peaks created by the tooling of the boring machine.

These types of stones are brush looking items, and remove very little material but leave a very smooth surface for the rings to ride on. Anyone who knows anything about internal combustion engines knows that the actual seal is created by a fine film of oil that the ring rides on. This is why achieving a smooth finish with the appropriate crosshatch is important for a really good bore and hone job. Ultimate ring seal and life is the goal.

I had been producing my own version of a plateau finish years before plateau brushes were even introduced. I always left .005" of stock to hone, and used a multi-step process of honing and cooling, and switching grits until I wound up with a 600 grit cork type stone that produced a super slick bore that had the right crosshatch and sealed up beautifully without eating up the rings.

In the real world, things don't always work that way, and we have to compromise.

I've also done alot of engines in the past with a portable hone, and re-ringed with iron hastings rings. They ran like a bandit, so you can't always argue against the budget method either.

In your case, I would probably be reaching for a $25.00 set of Hastings iron rings, and you won't have to worry about the rings failing to seat.